Sisters

The problem with having an older sister that loves to dress up when one is a little boy is this ~

Hang on...not over my whole face!

He obviously doesn't mind too much.

Funny Stuff

While rocking little Nickles to sleep the other night and singing to Annika and Dom, Annika nonchalantly states, "When I went flying with Grandpa we stole a car so we could go get breakfast." 

Nice. 

Then, I got the rest of the story out of her.  It wasn't as bad as it sounded ~ the car was a borrowed one that was parked at the airport just for that purpose.  But it made me laugh, as do all the stories that my kiddos come home with after spending time with Grandpa.  It instantly takes me back to my childhood with all my uncles and grandfathers.  They liked a good joke and were rarely serious.  Some may say that this lack of sincerity is not healthy, and I will heartily disagree!  I loved it. 

Annika's story reminded me of when Michaela was about 8 years old and came home from (guess what?) a flight with Grandpa.  He has his own plane and the kids love flying with him because it may mean flying to a small town and having breakfast somewhere exotic, which means anywhere but home.  Upon her return she says, "When you stick your thumb up in the air like this (demonstration) it means you want a ride somewhere and people will pick you up." 

Fantastic.

Speaking of flying, we think Nickles looks like a little aviator in these goggles....like a World War II era aviator.  Maybe the lifejacket detracts from the look, but it could kinda be a Mae West!

Then there was Joshie's story.  He went shopping this morning with me and told me about all the acrobatics that Grandpa does in his plane...that was just an extreme exaggeration on Josh's part.  From his stories one would think that Grandpa was a one-man flying circus. 
But he did tell me about the time Grandpa fried frog legs for him, "They were so good, just like hotdogs.  I think that is what they make hotdogs out of.......frog legs."  Mind you, we're talkin' frog legs from the little bitty frogs Joshie loves catching so much.  Ugh.  You know, there are some things I just don't want to know! 

And finally, a find that I couldn't pass up ~ Michaela was encouraging the purchase strongly ~ it's all her fault that I wasted the five bucks.  It is now hanging happily on our front door.
May make people think twice before knocking!

It Could Be Worse

Today was a glorious day...one with beautiful weather, in which we accomplished a lot (always a main component in a perfect day for me) and we had some super relaxing time as a family at the end of the day. 

But then in the middle, to mess up an otherwise spectacular day, I had to say something really dumb to someone who is suffering greatly and it is weighing on me heavily. 

"It could be worse." 

Okay, when someone is in the midst of suffering nothing is worse than what they are going through at that very moment.  They just need to be heard and loved ~ someone with whom to share their suffering, to lighten their load. 
I resolve from here forward to never say that to anyone again...unless, of course, it is to one of my children when they are complaining about dinner! 

We were able to go to the lake with friends this week.  It was a bit windy, but the kiddos didn't seem to mind.  I am always in search of  the "perfect" weather I remember from way back in the day.  Now I know it was never perfect ~ it was just how one views life as a child ~ every day was a clean slate, ready to be scribbled all over....darn the torpedos. 

Every day a new fish (or six) is waiting to be caught...

...or a frog...Nickles finally overcame his fear of the little guy hopping around and grabbed it...

....and held on...

...this guy, well he never had any fear...I'm talkin' about the kid...I'm pretty sure the frogs are a-feared!

But the look on Joshie's face, one would think he just wrestled an alligator out of the pond. 

But the look on Nickle's face, "Grandma, you're the best."  He may have been checking out her glasses, but hey, it looks good.

Maybe I should wear my glasses on top of my head more often. 

Does life get any better than summer time?  I submit that it does not!  



Friends & Small(er) Towns

I have always wanted to move.  Where, I don't know, just somewhere, anywhere, just to shake things up a bit.  I like bigger cities, the feeling of anonymity, the speed at which things move, especially the traffic.  On the flip side the traffic would bug the heck out of me when it isn't moving.  My bro-in-law pointed this out when I was ready to bolt from my parents' house so as to avoid the 4th of July "traffic" on their country dirt road.  "Oh, yeah, that's some traffic....what is it, like 40 vehicles?"  My affection for bigger cities probably lies in the fact that my grandparents lived in Portland and they helped us create such wonderful memories there.  And the anonymity wouldn't be so good for the soul...to be just a face in the crowd...where, proportionately, no one really knows your story.

Friday I was grocery shopping.  Meandering through Safeway, I recognized an older lady from our parish.  I smiled and moved on thinking that she probably didn't even recognize me, I mean I stand in the back of church most Sundays!  She grabbed my arm, looking at me like I was one of her dear friends and said, "We are praying for Theresa, and your whole family."
In the past when someone says they're praying for us I've thought, "Right.  How can you possibly be praying for us...that's just what one is supposed to say when there is nothing else to say." 
But she meant it, and she meant it enough to remember Theresa's name. 
In the next store the situation was repeated, and again, and again, and again.  Every single place I went someone reached out, out of themselves, and asked about Theresa, asked how everyone was doing, with such sincerity.  My soul was touched.

The next evening my girls and I went to the Symphony and here, gathered among 5000 people, where one could just blend in, the same thing happened, and the next day when we attended Mass at another parish.  I believe God was trying to tell me something....possibly something He has been trying to tell me for years.  Bloom where you're planted, accept the love you are shown, reach out to others all the time, don't let anyone be just a face in the crowd. 

And a couple pictures of my evening out with the girls ~ and some friends that we may have never known if we lived anywhere else!



Boys

Little boys crack me up ~ big boys do as well, but little boys think of the darndest things!  Actually, now that I am actually thinking about it, males in general, amuse me.  Shannon can get me laughing over the dumbest things. It must be because I am not male and their brains just fascinate me....or frustrate me, depending on the moment. 

Today, I had Eric & Joshie "working on the car."  That's what I told them anyway.  They got to use the mechanic's dolly to slide under the suburban and had a plethora of tools for their assignment.

Of course swimming goggles were necessary for this particular chore, as they kept getting dirt in their eyes...but then the swimming goggles were so scratched that they needed a headlight to brighten up their workspace.  I took the pic five minutes too soon.  They can be so creative.  When they are given a challenge they always rise up to meet it. Sometimes it is as simple as finding something to keep dirt out of their face! 

But why do they make so many different noises, like jets and dinosaurs and racecars?  Why?  Upon sneaking outside to check on Eric's powerwashing job I overheard him narrating the sudden bursts of water he is shooting at the concrete. "And here comes Jeff Gordon into corner one, now corner two, three, four.  He is smokin' up the track.  Rrrrrrrrr....Vrooooooom....he passes Jimmy Johnson.  Here's the checkered flag, is Gordon going to finally win a race?  It looks like it!  (Power washer going full out with accompanying vocal effects...I couldn't make those noises if I tried!) 

I interrupted him. I should have waited to find out, for Shannon's sake, if Jeff Gordon actually pulled it off! 

Then there was the three-year-old that left the toilet seat in, like, eight pieces.  Who knew that a toilet seat had that many parts?  And he was proud of the job he did, didn't even try to blame it on someone else when I was tearing around the house looking for the culprit.  Nope, he owned right up to it, "Me, Mom, it was me.  I had a scwewdwiver."  Because when a boy has a tool he must find something to use it on.  Thank heavens he didn't use it on the vacuum cleaner!  I can fix toilet seats. 

Even the youngest among us just thinks differently.  He disappeared at a family dinner the other night accompanied by his younger cousin, naturally another boy.  By the time we found them they had discovered how the hose bib worked. 

They say boys and girls are the same.  I beg to differ.  Here is what my girl was doing this afternoon. 

Say what you may, they just ain't the same!  

Lazy Hazy Days

We love summer, I mean we really love summer and this year it seems as though we just haven't had enough of it.  There was the weather, and when that broke, Theresa was sick, which has dampened our spirits more than a tad.  But the end of this past week and weekend was goodness and that's that.  We began our before-dinner-swims, just a quick dip and water fight to cool off. 

My little girl used to be a prima donna, perched happily on the bank.  We are trying to figure out where she went!  Now whenever there is a water fight, Annika is in the thick of it.  There are no rules about ladies when it comes to water fights...the gloves come off!

Poor Michaela broke her wrist a couple weeks ago at Hoopfest, so she hasn't been swimming....well, except for the time her mother was mysteriously blinded for 15 minutes and she pulled on her cast wrap and splashed happily away.  Her mother has been a bit more attentive now that she knows her 14-year-old daughter is itching to swim with the fam!  For the record, Michaela swears that Hoopfest was so darn fun that she would break her wrist all over again.  Crazy girl, I tell you what, she does love basketball! 

Since I am such a responsible mother I think I am going to push her off the boat this week so she can get a new cast.  Good night, that thing stinks.  Hey, the doctor said if it got wet they'd replace it.  That doc didn't know who she was dealing with.   

This week, we are going to soak up every minute of summer.  Tomorrow we are trying out our new fire pit and staying up way past my our bedtime.  My biggest quandary in the summer is how to enjoy every day lit moment.  Does one get up early to meet the sun peeking over the horizon, then have to hit the hay early and miss the glorious evenings?  Should one get up early, then take a nap, thus missing the searing, wonderful heat of the day?  Option 3 is not too appealing either, sleeping in and missing the early morning smells and sounds.  So, this is how we're going to roll ~ go, go, go, go, go, go and sleep when we're dead!

Right now, the sky is almost dark and the smell of rain is pouring in the windows...my deck is calling my name...Good Night.

Catching Up

This evening's dinnertime was filled with laughter.  Meals like that, with everyone gathered around the table, are the best.  Everything everyone did or said happened to be hilarious!  After the past two weeks of craziness it was needed.  We all hung around the table and reconnected, just the nine of us. It seems as though all our meals recently have been consumed with thoughts and conversation of important, more weighty matters.  How precious life is and how often we take it for granted.   

Auntie Theresa is doing well at the moment.  She is on her second round of chemo, as the first one did not work.  It seems as though this one is more intense. 
There were a few days where much needed platelets could not be located and our hearts were heavy.  It is during times like these that my heart swells with pride for my family....every last person. 
My children so generously not asking for time to themselves, knowing that Mom is barely making it through the days with all the phone calls ~ not complaining at one more call to prayer when they'd much rather be inviting a friend over ~ going to Grandma's so they can hold Theresa's babies close ~ helping one another more. 
They genuinely want to be involved, not some obligation that I guilt them into....like, say, washing the windows because it makes me so happy to have clean windows!  It is such a blessing to see them grow in generosity and love of others. 

And my brothers, sisters and parents.  There are just not words to describe their magnanimity.  I watch as Mom runs and runs and runs (though she does handle busyness much better than the average duck!) giving everything to ensure the health and happiness of Theresa and those sweet little babies of hers.  And Dad, gently cutting up sandwiches into tiny pieces as the girls wait expectantly for someone to feed them, giving up his workouts so Mom has time to accomplish a few things. 

Then, my bros...oof...okay so sometimes they drive me nuts, it's just a fact.  But, wow!  They have risen to new heights supporting John and Theresa as they navigate the hospital and its shortcomings.  Loving Theresa in every way they know how.  Finding platelets for her when the future looked bleak, if not nonexistent.

Last, but certainly not least, our wonderful community has shown us how blessed we are.  From close friends that we just drop our kids on so we can buzz up to the hospital to everyone storming heaven, I feel enormously blessed!

This week has been filled with anxiety, but also has shown us how mighty God is.  The verse that has been filling my heart is Psalm 139.  "You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb, I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works!............................
How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!" 

We do not know what the future may hold at this time, but we do know that we are precious in God's sight.  He created us for a specific purpose; we often do not recognize what that is until much later.  Despite not understanding what our life may hold and why we are suffering, He makes all things good.  Sanctification occurs through suffering, not through the good times, as difficult as that is to understand. 
Gold is tested in fire, and Theresa, you are gold!  What an example of virtue you are to me.


Even though our week was crazy, we did squeeze some goodness in!  We celebrated Eric's 10th birthday with his friends.  There was a Kung Fu Panda cake, casting contest, balloon toss, balloon shoot, darts. 

For the record, I have absolutely no idea where Eric got the dorky smile in the first pics....had to be his father! 

I'm still trying to figure out what was going on here....only boys!

Dude, that balloon is gone!  There is no chance you'll hit it now! 

And now for, the real fun....water fight!

This next week is looking peaceful, no swimming lessons, not too much extra stuff, just Daddy's birthday...which is a national holiday in our house!  He's wondering what kinda loot we have stashed away for him.  What a little kid!